Chapter 204: The Once “Deceased”

For a full ten minutes, Ji Tianqing kicked the man again, ending his agony.

The man broke out in a cold sweat, on the verge of collapse. Just as he was about to speak, Ji Tianqing stopped him, “Wait, I’ll give you another ten minutes. Think carefully about what you want to say, and then speak.”

Fear flashed across the man’s face; he understood the threat in Ji Tianqing’s words.

Qian Ye, standing nearby, asked, “Is there something wrong with this man?”

“Since they are also from the Empire, don’t you find it strange that you don’t recognize them?” Ji Tianqing said.

Qian Ye didn’t consider himself famous, but seeing how serious Ji Tianqing was and Li Kuanglan’s thoughtful expression, he knew there was something amiss.

Li Kuanglan suddenly spoke, “Could they be from the previous group that entered the Great Maelstrom?”

“I’ve seen the list of those who survived, and these three were never on it.”

“Survivors? Could they be among the dead?”

Ji Tianqing nodded, “It’s possible. That’s why I want to hear what they experienced after ‘dying’.”

The man on the ground looked increasingly despondent, his face turning ashen by the end.

Ji Tianqing squatted beside him and said, “Do you know what to say now? Speak, and speak well!”

The man hesitated, still unsure.

Ji Tianqing said calmly, “Night is approaching. Although the cold and silence here are not as severe as inside, I still don’t want any trouble. If you don’t speak, I’ll throw you back in. You know what I mean.”

“You know about ‘inside’?” the man exclaimed.

“Of course. We all came from the tenfold gravity zone.”

The man’s eyes widened in shock, “Impossible! No one can reach that area. No one has ever returned!”

“Did you go to the core for this?” Ji Tianqing held up a white fruit.

Seeing the white fruit, the man’s eyes bulged, “A… a sacred fruit! Such a large one! You really went to the Holy Domain!”

“Holy Domain?” Ji Tianqing seized on the keyword.

The man calmed himself and said, “The adults call the central world the Holy Domain. Since you have the white fruit, you must have met the adults—the multi-armed ones.”

“Who are you?”

“I… I should be listed as deceased in the Empire,” the man laughed bitterly, then gathered his thoughts, “I am Nangong Tianyu. It has been about… twenty years since I entered the Great Maelstrom.”

Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan both showed surprise. Twenty years was a long time. According to Imperial records, those who stay in the Great Maelstrom for more than five years begin to feel discomfort, their bodies gradually affected by the environment. Even the most talented warriors would struggle to survive for more than ten years. Those missing for over ten years are usually presumed dead.

Nangong Tianyu’s survival for twenty years was nothing short of miraculous.

He continued, “I come from a side branch of the Nangong family. I risked my life for a chance to enter the Great Maelstrom, thinking it was a blessing. But inside, it was still a struggle. Before I could adapt, I was assigned to an exploration mission. During that mission, we were ambushed by a horde of beasts. The squad scattered, and I was chased by several beasts. Fleeing deep into the maelstrom, I accidentally entered the central area and fell into the hands of the natives.”

“And then?”

“Then… whether by luck or misfortune, I survived. They kept me, adding me to the two-armed group. I patrolled and fought while also serving as a breeding machine. Fortunately, my body was resilient, and I survived the endless breeding, eventually reaching a point where my body changed. So, I’m not sure if I’m still human.”

Ji Tianqing paused and said, “Take off your clothes. Let us see the changes in your body.”

Nangong Tianyu, devoid of resistance, silently removed his clothes, standing before the three.

Neither Ji Tianqing nor Li Kuanglan, both veterans of many battles, were bothered by the awkwardness. They used their secret techniques to examine Nangong Tianyu’s body.

Nangong Tianyu was slightly thin, but his bones were dense and robust, stronger than those of ordinary warriors. When Ji Tianqing had kicked him, she couldn’t break his bones. His muscles were like iron wires, making his body far stronger than an ordinary warrior, similar to a four-armed native.

While Qian Ye was unfazed, Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan were secretly shocked. They knew the history of the noble families; twenty years ago, there was no mention of Nangong Tianyu. He was just an ordinary warrior, not even considered a genius by Ji Tianqing’s standards. Among those who entered the Great Maelstrom, he was probably at the bottom.

Yet, his current physical strength could place him among the top geniuses.

When Nangong Tianyu turned, they saw the real difference. A row of finger-sized bone spines protruded from his spine, their tips steel-gray and hard. This natural defense, similar to that of beasts, was unusual for a human.

Additional bone spines protruded from his elbows and ankles.

Qian Ye approached him, lightly tapping his shoulder, and felt the internal structure of Nangong Tianyu’s body through the vibrations.

Nangong Tianyu’s bones had many small, hidden bone spines that could be lethal when struck. But what surprised Qian Ye most was his organs.

Nangong Tianyu’s heart was enormous, almost filling half his chest cavity. His lungs were much smaller than normal, and his other organs were chaotically arranged in his abdomen. His internal blood vessels were a tangled web, crisscrossing and coiling. It was a miracle that such haphazard growth hadn’t killed him.

Qian Ye whispered Nangong Tianyu’s condition to the two women, then examined the other man’s corpse. The situation was similar, with some differences in the arrangement of internal organs, indicating random growth within the Great Maelstrom.

Ji Tianqing asked for more details, and Nangong Tianyu answered truthfully.

After being captured by the natives, he was added to the two-armed group. Over time, he adapted, and as his body changed, he began to move towards the high-gravity central area.

Twenty years later, Nangong Tianyu learned some of the natives’ language and uncovered shocking secrets.

Among the natives, the four-armed trait was not passed down. Both two- and four-armed individuals could produce four-armed offspring, though the probability was lower for two-armed pairs. The social hierarchy was clear: two-armed individuals were cannon fodder and slaves, while the four-armed were warriors, the leaders and main force.

Surprisingly, the society was matriarchal. Four-armed females ruled the stone fortresses, not the more powerful male warriors. Four-armed females were the primary producers of four-armed warriors, and the woman who bore the most four-armed children was the queen. Their white mist ability made any humanoid powerless, reducing them to breeding tools.

Nangong Tianyu was one of those breeding tools, but as his body changed, his combat skills, originally strong, made him stand out among the two-armed, placing him in a unique position between two- and four-armed ranks. It was rumored that drinking white fruit wine could eventually grow two new arms, elevating him to the warrior rank.

Many two-armed people, like Nangong Tianyu, came from various races, not just humans. The other two with him were from the same stone fortress.

In the tenfold gravity zone, Qian Ye and the others hadn’t seen similar people because they couldn’t survive there without the sacred fruit, which even the native warriors needed to survive the cold, silent nights.

Ji Tianqing was about to ask more when the woman reappeared in the distant forest, now accompanied by a Demon and a Spider Demon.

She pointed at Qian Ye, “It’s them! They stole my treasure.”

The Demon and Spider Demon glanced at the White Lotus, puzzled. They asked, “What is this?”

The woman hesitated, “Whatever it is, it’s valuable.”

The Demon pondered, eyeing Qian Ye and the others. Treasures weren’t universally useful, and some things precious to humans were trash to dark races. Engaging in a fight for a few unknown lotus flowers seemed unwise.

Seeing the Demon hesitate, the woman grew anxious. She said, “Your Highness, if you capture them, I… I will submit to you. Moreover, I can introduce you to the Holy Clan.”

“The Holy Clan?” The Demon was intrigued.

“They have spatial equipment!” the woman finally revealed her biggest secret.